For This I get Paid? — The Final Installment

I got back to Cincinnati late Saturday after six days at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking, where Phil Lowe taught me and 11 others how to build a demilune table with a veneered apron. I promised to post a picture of my table today. The one you see above is Phil’s. The one you see below (not quite completed…) is mine. ‘Nuff said.

6 thoughts on “For This I get Paid? — The Final Installment”

Actually, Megan, I’m more optimistic about how your table looks put together than apparently you are. If I worry about warts and all every time I do something, nothing gets done. For me, perspective is the name of the game. Have a great rest of the week and I’m looking forward to seeing pictures of the completely assembled table.

Oh,no. You don’t get off that easy, Megan. We want to see YOUR table completed. Completed means assembled and with a finish. We’d like to see the completed table photographed in it’s intended surroundings; one or two shots will suffice.

Now, every other editor at Popular Woodworking, when they do a story like this, shows a completed project. Would you let Schwarz, Huey, or Lang publish a rough draft article? No, you would insist that it get the final editing to make it print worthy. Now, you’ve been reporting on YOUR progress throughout this class. Don’t you think it fair we get to see YOUR completed table?

Some of us out here aren’t, and probably never will be, as skilled as Schwarz, et al. There are many of us that are at about your skill level or less. It’s rather nice to occasionally see the results of the resident apprentice. Someone once said that a beginner who has learned a few steps can sometimes explain those steps to other beginners more clearly than the seasoned expert. So don’t bail out on us at the end by showing us Marc Adam’s table after working all week on YOUR table and telling us YOUR triumphs and tribulations.

Ok, maybe your joinery isn’t lightproof and your table top is a few millimeters off and your veneer work won’t win any prizes at the State Fair. You should see some of the iffy projects I’ve done. They don’t win any prizes either, but I can’t get my wife out of the outdoor Morris chair I built her. Functionally, it’s solid as a rock. Aesthetically, there are a few spots where you can tell I need to practice my sawing technique. Your project may not be perfect, but how often is any project perfect? Judging by the photo, your table doesn’t look bad at all. Much better than anything I could do right now. I bet once yours is finished it will be harder to tell your table from Marc Adam’s than you think.

In the mean time, I am going to organize a protest outside the Popular Woodworking offices and will not rest until you’ve finished the table, so don’t be surprised to here chants of "Megan’s Table! Megan’s Table! Megan’s Table now!" coming from the parking lot. Well, ok, there will be no organized protest. But we still want to see this table.

We laid down the field veneer first, oversized, then cut it to final dimensions with a cutting gauge when the glue was set. Then, we milled the banding to final width, and cut it to thickness on the table saw (that was scary, despite the push sticks), and applied the banding with hide glue on one side only, stretching painter’s tape across it every two inches or so as "clamps."